The adverse criticism levelled at Affirmation 2010 in a good number of Christian magazines and digital publications has moved The Bible League Trust to over-react with an eight point, five-paged rebuttal claiming that all such criticisms are unfounded, ill-conceived, fallacious, confused and indicate a departure from sound teaching. In their condemnation of honest criticism, they sarcastically denigrate the intelligence, integrity and orthodoxy of their critics. Besides choosing to exonerate themselves by ridiculing those who question their policies, they play down this opposition, claiming that they have only found ‘one or two critiques’. This must be the understatement of the year as their ‘critical responses’… Full Article
Posts Tagged Iain Murray
Iain Murray’s Controversy
Dec 15
Letter to the Banner of Truth Dear Christian Friends, Though The Banner of Truth Magazine is entitled to consider any matter as ‘an important controversy’ (Issue 378, p. 22), as in all controversies it is important to keep a cool head and avoid unwarranted statements. I must therefore point out that the argument that I denigrate 18th century evangelical contemporaries of William Huntington in all denominations is entirely unwarranted. Anyone who has read my recent articles and books on 18th century evangelicals of all denominations such as Cotton Mather, John Gill, James Hervey, William Romaine, William Cowper, Risdon Darracot and Philip Doddridge will know how utterly untrue your statement is. I would like to see this error… Full Article
Like John Harding in his candid review of Iain Murray’s new book on Wesley, I was alarmed at the author’s exodus from Reformed doctrines. Could he not praise Wesley objectively for the good he did without having to side with him in his errors? Murray has lost his balance. Formerly he was pro Whitefield and contra Wesley, now he is pro Wesley and Whitefield is forgotten. Forgotten, too, are the adverse teachings of Wesley on the doctrines of grace, his extraordinary superstitions such as his belief in ghosts and his shocking treatment of sound men such as Hervey, Toplady, Erskine, Cennick, Cudworth and the Hill brothers. Murray tells us that it is not his task to enquire into these things. Thus we are only permitted to see Wesley at his… Full Article
Sir: Iain Murray’s excellent, necessarily selective, overview of evangelicalism’s ups and downs (Issues 455-6) reveals the need of more pan-European study of the growth of Liberalism. Schleiermacher, of Moravian background and heart, was very much influenced by British Latidudinarians from whom he gained his love of Natural Law as opposed to revealed law. British Methodism helped give him his emphasis on free-will and the religion of the heart. Schleiermacher combined these views in combating dead orthodoxy and state-controlled religion, affirming the necessity of personal, subjective reconciliation with God. This Liberal-Arminian ‘British Religion’ was seen as a patriotic bulwark against the tyranny of legalism under… Full Article
An Open Letter to Thomas Ascol and Earnest C. Reisiger, Editors of The Foundation Journal. Dear Brethren in Christ, You will be aware that until the late eighties in Britain and on the Continent of Europe, the issue of Calvinism v. Hyper-Calvinism was not a major factor in evangelical debate. There is much evidence to suggest that it was not even a minor factor. After 1988, however, certain orthodox Calvinistic leaders had a frightening vision of Hyper-Calvinism flooding evangelicalism. They took this as a sign from God, authorising them to make the combating of Hyper-Calvinism a major issue in their programme of evangelism. Since then, it appears that there has been a revival of Hyper-Calvinism in Great… Full Article
A Second Open Letter to Thomas Ascol and Earnest C. Reisiger, Editors of The Foundation Journal. Dear Brethren, I trust that my last letter was received safely in the spirit I sent it and that my heart reached your heart through my words, clumsy as they were. I am unused to this kind of correspondence and need to mould and manage my words so that they are honouring to God. Any help or advice you can give me to this end will be greatly appreciated and received as a token of your brotherly love to me. The bulk of this letter was written a few days after my last but I waited until I received a copy of Iain’s book before finishing it. Up to now, I had only the chapter on Gill, published in the Banner magazine to… Full Article
Puritan Papers
Aug 18
Puritan Papers Volume I, 1956-59: A Review Article A Conference downgraded Puritan Papers brought back memories of my early years in England as a new born Christian and the help which I received from the teaching of the Puritan Conference up to 1964 and my continued interest during my later sojourn in Sweden and Germany. When the Puritan Conference ended in 1970, my interest waned. The Westminster Conference became more narrow in spiritual scope but broader in political and denominational tub-thumping. It radically redefined Puritanism. The shutting out of Jim Packer, one of my first mentors in Christ, was a tragic move on the part of John Knox-like Martyn Lloyd Jones. It bordered on an excommunication and forced Jim to find… Full Article
John Gill and His Successors
Aug 17
The witness and teaching of Dr John Gill (1697-1771) so impressed his friends Augustus Toplady and James Hervey that they maintained his work would still be of great importance to future generations. This also became the conviction of John Rippon (1750-1836) and Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Gill’s more well-known successors to his pastorate, but it was also the testimony of those who served for shorter periods at Carter Lane such as John Martin, Benjamin Francis and John Fawcett. The witness of these faithful men of God has helped point generations to Gill’s works which have subsequently enriched their lives. The present evangelical establishment is apparently striving to unite Calvinism with Arminianism,… Full Article
Reflections on Some Recent Banner of Truth Criticisms Regarding William Huntington and Avarice
Aug 17
The Banner critics portray Huntington as living like an Eastern Nabob in the lap of luxury. Providence Chapel paid their pastor a salary of £100 per annum at the beginning of his ministry but this was rapidly doubled. This was not an unusual amount. Rowland Hill, the only London pastor who could compete in numbers received half to a third more salary than Huntington. James Hervey (1714-1758) received £180 per year and also the profits from a farm which had been in the family for generations. In spite of his popularity, Hervey’s congregations was only half that of Huntington’s. Pastors in patronised livings, however, often received between £600 and £1,000 a year. Many Evangelical clergymen such as Moses Browne, Vicar of Olney… Full Article
